![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
On Monday, city elections will be held throughout Ontario. You'd never know from the extent of the media coverage around Ottawa that it was so imminent. There doesn't seem to be a Big Issue this time, like Lansdowne Park was last time around. LRT? Well, it's still an issue but most people seem to feel that at least now the shovels are in the ground, we'll eventually get SOMETHING and it would be folly at this stage to try to turn back the clock. The surprise issue, for me anyway, has been garbage - not the obscene amount of money wasted on the Orgaworld contract but rather, the impetus towards reinstating weekly garbage pickup. As for the top job, there are plenty of contenders on the ballot but even the closest runner-up is unlikely to supplant the incumbent.
As far as garbage and recycling service is concerned, I'd be happy to see the trucks come around only every two weeks, but pick up everything at once. That way, you wouldn't have to keep looking at the calendar to figure out what colour of receptacle should go out to the curb this week. Yes, it would mean a longer stop at each house, but surely it would save something on fuel and labour costs. I'd also like to have the option of putting ALL recyclables in a single container with the sorting being done at the other end - I think that would certainly bring more people onside with the green initiatives - but I recognize that that would involve a lot of renegotiating of contracts with third parties and could not be achieved overnight.
Another perennial issue is library service. Generally, I'm pleased with it. I think it's one of the greatest bargains we get from our tax dollars. With respect to bricks and mortar libraries, I think there have been some excellent expansions and renovations to branch libraries in the 'burbs. But I firmly believe we need a new central library downtown. In our ward, we only have two candidates for councillor that I know of. One of them, the incumbent, is in favour of a new central library while the other is opposed. Guess which one I plan to vote for?
It's always a challenge to figure out who is running for school trustee. Part of the problem is that while councillors have "wards", trustees have "zones". There are more zones than wards and your zone number may be nothing like your ward number. In our zone, we again only seem to have two candidates, and on their websites they mostly seemed to have motherhood (teacherhood?) type statements about helping every child reach his or her or their potential. We don't have any children in the school system so it's a bit hard to make an informed choice, but I think once again I'd lean towards voting for the incumbent.
I will say here that there are a couple of issues which DON'T seem to be on the candidates' radars that really OUGHT to be.
First off, community mailboxes. The municipal government didn't have any say over the phasing out of home delivery but inevitably, most of these boxes are going to end up on city property and the city is going to bear some of the brunt of maintaining the conditions around them. Shouldn't candidates at least be consulting with their actual or prospective constituencies to see WHERE people think they ought to be located for maximum convenience and accessibility?
Secondly, let's see if we can get rid of some of our nuisance bylaws. The latest is that posts for driveway-clearing services must not be put up before November 1. But it's certainly not unheard of for us to get snow in October. Ironically, I think that's probably precisely the reason that city elections were moved up to October from November! There are going to be a lot of unhappy snowbound customers around if we get a major blizzard and their plough doesn't show up because they can't be readily identified!
In general, I guess I'm a bit of a libertarian when it comes to city bylaws. I think within reason, you should be able to do what you want on your own property. If you think that "monster home" across the street is an eyesore, then get over it already and draw your curtains. The owners probably pay a lot more in taxes than you do! Then there's the business of making it illegal to chop down your own large tree on your own property. Yes, "mature trees" do add a certain pleasant ambience to the neighbourhood. But if their roots are drinking the soil dry and destroying the foundation of your house - and if the city then declares a watering ban because it needs to repair the sewers it hasn't properly maintained... well, the problem is only compounded. And you can bet the city isn't about to reimburse you the thousands of dollars it takes to repair your foundation!
Thirdly, I definitely think we need some sort of naming policy for city streets, buildings, parks and whatever else may need a name. I was annoyed when Jim Watson caved to public pressure and backtracked on naming the new city archives after Charlotte Whitton. Not that I don't have the greatest of respect for James Bartleman - I just think Whitton was a much better choice for a city building. She was such a trailblazer and so involved in civic affairs that surely she deserves at least one building named after her.
Then there's the matter of suddenly changing the name of something that already has a perfectly good name that everyone recognizes. The Ottawa River Parkway becomes the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway. The Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge becomes the Vimy Bridge. Even though we already have things named after Sir John A, and Vimy (Vimy Place, where the war museum is located, is surely a more appropriate forum for honouring those who lost their lives in the Battle of Vimy Ridge). If we want to make the nation's capital tourist-friendly, surely it's better to use names that describe where they are located rather than honouring folks who, while no doubt honourable, have no real connection with their namesake places.
Of course, naming rights is a whole other can of worms. The Palladium becomes the Corel Centre becomes Scotiabank Place becomes the Canadian Tire Centre... and even Google Maps can't keep up. It's confusing enough for those who live here, let alone visitors! I guess maybe public-private partnerships are here to stay but personally, I'd be more inclined to boycott a business that splashed its name all over some highlight of the city that more properly should be either named after someone worthy of the honour or else after the area in which it's located (which, of course, might itself be named after someone).
Anyway, it will still be interesting to see what happens on Monday... in other people's back yards. In some wards, longstanding councillors are not running for re-election so there will be at least some new blood on the new city council.
As far as garbage and recycling service is concerned, I'd be happy to see the trucks come around only every two weeks, but pick up everything at once. That way, you wouldn't have to keep looking at the calendar to figure out what colour of receptacle should go out to the curb this week. Yes, it would mean a longer stop at each house, but surely it would save something on fuel and labour costs. I'd also like to have the option of putting ALL recyclables in a single container with the sorting being done at the other end - I think that would certainly bring more people onside with the green initiatives - but I recognize that that would involve a lot of renegotiating of contracts with third parties and could not be achieved overnight.
Another perennial issue is library service. Generally, I'm pleased with it. I think it's one of the greatest bargains we get from our tax dollars. With respect to bricks and mortar libraries, I think there have been some excellent expansions and renovations to branch libraries in the 'burbs. But I firmly believe we need a new central library downtown. In our ward, we only have two candidates for councillor that I know of. One of them, the incumbent, is in favour of a new central library while the other is opposed. Guess which one I plan to vote for?
It's always a challenge to figure out who is running for school trustee. Part of the problem is that while councillors have "wards", trustees have "zones". There are more zones than wards and your zone number may be nothing like your ward number. In our zone, we again only seem to have two candidates, and on their websites they mostly seemed to have motherhood (teacherhood?) type statements about helping every child reach his or her or their potential. We don't have any children in the school system so it's a bit hard to make an informed choice, but I think once again I'd lean towards voting for the incumbent.
I will say here that there are a couple of issues which DON'T seem to be on the candidates' radars that really OUGHT to be.
First off, community mailboxes. The municipal government didn't have any say over the phasing out of home delivery but inevitably, most of these boxes are going to end up on city property and the city is going to bear some of the brunt of maintaining the conditions around them. Shouldn't candidates at least be consulting with their actual or prospective constituencies to see WHERE people think they ought to be located for maximum convenience and accessibility?
Secondly, let's see if we can get rid of some of our nuisance bylaws. The latest is that posts for driveway-clearing services must not be put up before November 1. But it's certainly not unheard of for us to get snow in October. Ironically, I think that's probably precisely the reason that city elections were moved up to October from November! There are going to be a lot of unhappy snowbound customers around if we get a major blizzard and their plough doesn't show up because they can't be readily identified!
In general, I guess I'm a bit of a libertarian when it comes to city bylaws. I think within reason, you should be able to do what you want on your own property. If you think that "monster home" across the street is an eyesore, then get over it already and draw your curtains. The owners probably pay a lot more in taxes than you do! Then there's the business of making it illegal to chop down your own large tree on your own property. Yes, "mature trees" do add a certain pleasant ambience to the neighbourhood. But if their roots are drinking the soil dry and destroying the foundation of your house - and if the city then declares a watering ban because it needs to repair the sewers it hasn't properly maintained... well, the problem is only compounded. And you can bet the city isn't about to reimburse you the thousands of dollars it takes to repair your foundation!
Thirdly, I definitely think we need some sort of naming policy for city streets, buildings, parks and whatever else may need a name. I was annoyed when Jim Watson caved to public pressure and backtracked on naming the new city archives after Charlotte Whitton. Not that I don't have the greatest of respect for James Bartleman - I just think Whitton was a much better choice for a city building. She was such a trailblazer and so involved in civic affairs that surely she deserves at least one building named after her.
Then there's the matter of suddenly changing the name of something that already has a perfectly good name that everyone recognizes. The Ottawa River Parkway becomes the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway. The Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge becomes the Vimy Bridge. Even though we already have things named after Sir John A, and Vimy (Vimy Place, where the war museum is located, is surely a more appropriate forum for honouring those who lost their lives in the Battle of Vimy Ridge). If we want to make the nation's capital tourist-friendly, surely it's better to use names that describe where they are located rather than honouring folks who, while no doubt honourable, have no real connection with their namesake places.
Of course, naming rights is a whole other can of worms. The Palladium becomes the Corel Centre becomes Scotiabank Place becomes the Canadian Tire Centre... and even Google Maps can't keep up. It's confusing enough for those who live here, let alone visitors! I guess maybe public-private partnerships are here to stay but personally, I'd be more inclined to boycott a business that splashed its name all over some highlight of the city that more properly should be either named after someone worthy of the honour or else after the area in which it's located (which, of course, might itself be named after someone).
Anyway, it will still be interesting to see what happens on Monday... in other people's back yards. In some wards, longstanding councillors are not running for re-election so there will be at least some new blood on the new city council.
